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Magma
Premiado em 1936 pela Academia Brasileira de Letras, este livro de Guimarães Rosa transformou-se quase numa lenda, permanecendo inédito desde então. Livro de estréia do escritor, os poemas contidos na obra foram conhecidos por poucos, inacessíveis a muitos e aguardados durante longo tempo, com uma existência quase clandestina. Na obra, mais de sessenta poemas resgatam a magia de João Guimarães Rosa.
146 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1936
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48 people want to read
About the author
João Guimarães Rosa
92 books643 followersJoão Guimarães Rosa (27 June 1908 - 19 November 1967) was a Brazilian novelist, considered by many to be one of the greatest Brazilian novelists born in the 20th century. His best-known work is the novel Grande Sertão: Veredas (translated as The Devil to Pay in the Backlands). Some people consider this to be the Brazilian equivalent of Ulysses.
Guimarães Rosa was born in Cordisburgo in the state of Minas Gerais, the first of six children of Florduardo Pinto Rosa (nicknamed "seu Fulô") and D. Francisca Guimarães Rosa ("Chiquitinha").
He was self-taught in many areas and from childhood studied many languages, starting with French before he was seven years old.
Still a child, he moved to his grandparents' house in Belo Horizonte, where he finished primary school. He began his secondary schooling at the Santo Antônio College in São João del Rei, but soon returned to Belo Horizonte, where he graduated. In 1925, at only 16, he applied for what was then called the College of Medicine of Minas Gerais University.
On June 27, 1930, he married Lígia Cabral Penna, a girl of only 16, with whom he had two daughters, Vilma and Agnes. In that same year he graduated and began his medical practice in Itaguara, then in the municipality of Itauna, in Minas Gerais, where he stayed about two years. It is in this town that he had his first contact with elements from the sertão (semi-arid Brazilian outback), which would serve as reference and inspiration in many of his works.
Back in Itaguara, Guimarães Rosa served as a volunteer doctor of the Public Force (Força Pública) in the Constitutionalist Revolution of 1932, heading to the so-called Tunel sector in Passa-Quatro, Minas Gerais, where he came into contact with the future president Juscelino Kubitschek, at that time the chief doctor of the Blood Hospital. Later he became a civil servant through examination. In 1933, he went to Barbacena in the position of Doctor of the 9th Armed Battalion (Official Médico do 9º Batalhão de Infantaria). Most of his life was spent as a Brazilian diplomat in Europe and Latin America. In 1938 he served as assistant-Consul im Hamburg, Germany, wher he met his future second wife, the Righteous Among the Nations Aracy de Carvalho Guimarães Rosa
In 1963, he was chosen by unanimous vote to enter the Academia Brasileira de Letras (Brazilian Academy of Letters) in his second candidacy. After postponing for 4 years, he finally assumed his position only in 1967: just three days before passing away in the city of Rio de Janeiro, victim of a heart attack. His masterpiece is The Devil to Pay in the Backlands. In this novel, Riobaldo, a jagunço is torn between two loves: Diadorim, supposedly another jagunço, and Otacília, an ordinary beauty from the backlands. Following his own existential quest, he contemplates making a deal with Lucifer in order to eliminate Hermogenes, his nemesis. One could say that Sertão (the backlands) represents the whole Universe and the mission of Riobaldo is to pursue its travessia, or crossing, seeking answers for the metaphysical questions faced by mankind. In this sense he is an incarnation of the classical hero in the Brazilian backlands.
Guimaraes Rosa died at the summit of his diplomatic and literary career. He was 59.
Guimarães Rosa was born in Cordisburgo in the state of Minas Gerais, the first of six children of Florduardo Pinto Rosa (nicknamed "seu Fulô") and D. Francisca Guimarães Rosa ("Chiquitinha").
He was self-taught in many areas and from childhood studied many languages, starting with French before he was seven years old.
Still a child, he moved to his grandparents' house in Belo Horizonte, where he finished primary school. He began his secondary schooling at the Santo Antônio College in São João del Rei, but soon returned to Belo Horizonte, where he graduated. In 1925, at only 16, he applied for what was then called the College of Medicine of Minas Gerais University.
On June 27, 1930, he married Lígia Cabral Penna, a girl of only 16, with whom he had two daughters, Vilma and Agnes. In that same year he graduated and began his medical practice in Itaguara, then in the municipality of Itauna, in Minas Gerais, where he stayed about two years. It is in this town that he had his first contact with elements from the sertão (semi-arid Brazilian outback), which would serve as reference and inspiration in many of his works.
Back in Itaguara, Guimarães Rosa served as a volunteer doctor of the Public Force (Força Pública) in the Constitutionalist Revolution of 1932, heading to the so-called Tunel sector in Passa-Quatro, Minas Gerais, where he came into contact with the future president Juscelino Kubitschek, at that time the chief doctor of the Blood Hospital. Later he became a civil servant through examination. In 1933, he went to Barbacena in the position of Doctor of the 9th Armed Battalion (Official Médico do 9º Batalhão de Infantaria). Most of his life was spent as a Brazilian diplomat in Europe and Latin America. In 1938 he served as assistant-Consul im Hamburg, Germany, wher he met his future second wife, the Righteous Among the Nations Aracy de Carvalho Guimarães Rosa
In 1963, he was chosen by unanimous vote to enter the Academia Brasileira de Letras (Brazilian Academy of Letters) in his second candidacy. After postponing for 4 years, he finally assumed his position only in 1967: just three days before passing away in the city of Rio de Janeiro, victim of a heart attack. His masterpiece is The Devil to Pay in the Backlands. In this novel, Riobaldo, a jagunço is torn between two loves: Diadorim, supposedly another jagunço, and Otacília, an ordinary beauty from the backlands. Following his own existential quest, he contemplates making a deal with Lucifer in order to eliminate Hermogenes, his nemesis. One could say that Sertão (the backlands) represents the whole Universe and the mission of Riobaldo is to pursue its travessia, or crossing, seeking answers for the metaphysical questions faced by mankind. In this sense he is an incarnation of the classical hero in the Brazilian backlands.
Guimaraes Rosa died at the summit of his diplomatic and literary career. He was 59.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
September 30, 2021
Se fosse só eu
a chorar de amor,
sorriria... ♥
a chorar de amor,
sorriria... ♥
September 1, 2023
Potente na sutileza ao discutir as temáticas que atravessam a existência mineira: o cerrado, o sertão, o amor, as águas e o sofrer. Exige muito repertório em alguns momentos, pode ser um pouco raso brevemente porém sem perder a essência do autor. Delicioso para desfrutar quando não se quer se envolver com uma obra por muito tempo, apenas brevemente. Se prestar muita atenção, vai chorar.
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October 6, 2017Lido numa excelente tarde solar, a aproveitar a praia. Gostei mais da poesia do que da prosa que li deste autor, apesar de ser bastante poética. Esta edição é belissima, muito bem paginada e ilustrada.
May 26, 2019
Desterro
Eu ia triste, triste, com a tristeza discreta dos fatigados,
com a tristeza torpe dos que partiram tendo despedidas,
tão preso aos lugares
de onde o trem já me afastara estradas arrastadas,
que talvez eu não estivesse todo inteiro presente
no horror dessa viagem.
Mas a minha tristeza pesava mais do que todos os pesos,
e era por causa de mim, da minha fadiga desolada,
que a locomotiva, lá adiante, ridícula e honesta,
[bracejava
puxando com esforço vagões quase vazios,
com almas cheias de distância, a penetrar no longe.
A tarde subiu do chão para a paisagem sem casas,
e o comboio seguia,
cada vez mais longe, mais fundo, a terra mais vermelha,
o esforço maior, as montanhas mais duras,
como sabem ser duros os caminhos,
pelos quais a gente vai, só pensando na volta...
Coagulada em preto,
a noite isolou as cousas dentro da tarde,
e o barulho do trem foi um rumor de soçobro
no fundo de um mar sem tona.
Nem mesmo foi a noite: foi a ausência
brusca e absurda do dia.
Tão definitivamente e estranha, que eu me alegrei, esperando
o não continuar da vida,
o não-regresso da luz, o não-andar-mais do trem...
Eu ia triste, triste, com a tristeza discreta dos fatigados,
com a tristeza torpe dos que partiram tendo despedidas,
tão preso aos lugares
de onde o trem já me afastara estradas arrastadas,
que talvez eu não estivesse todo inteiro presente
no horror dessa viagem.
Mas a minha tristeza pesava mais do que todos os pesos,
e era por causa de mim, da minha fadiga desolada,
que a locomotiva, lá adiante, ridícula e honesta,
[bracejava
puxando com esforço vagões quase vazios,
com almas cheias de distância, a penetrar no longe.
A tarde subiu do chão para a paisagem sem casas,
e o comboio seguia,
cada vez mais longe, mais fundo, a terra mais vermelha,
o esforço maior, as montanhas mais duras,
como sabem ser duros os caminhos,
pelos quais a gente vai, só pensando na volta...
Coagulada em preto,
a noite isolou as cousas dentro da tarde,
e o barulho do trem foi um rumor de soçobro
no fundo de um mar sem tona.
Nem mesmo foi a noite: foi a ausência
brusca e absurda do dia.
Tão definitivamente e estranha, que eu me alegrei, esperando
o não continuar da vida,
o não-regresso da luz, o não-andar-mais do trem...
March 3, 2022
Poemas que lidam com nossa brasilidade, nossos costumes, muito bom. Eu não imaginava que Guimarães Rosa fosse também um grande poeta.
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May 19, 2025Ruim, mas é um registro interessante para entender de onde vieram certas coisas do Guimarães Rosa
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews